Raul Jimenez plays 45 minutes for Mexico against Sweden
Wolves striker Raul Jimenez played 45 minutes for Mexico last night in a friendly against Sweden.
The 31-year-old took to the pitch for the first time since playing for Wolves in the 0-0 draw against Bournemouth at the end of August.
Jimenez has been unavailable for Wolves with a groin injury.
Given his fitness issues and also the huge setback with Sasa Kalajdzic, Wolves had to sign Diego Costa as a free agent after the summer transfer window closed.
Jimenez has been trying to return to action in recent weeks in a bid to play at the World Cup in Qatar.
Wolves allowed him to travel to Mexico recently to continue his rehabilitation, and he was then allowed to travel to Girona recently to join the squad ahead of the tournament.
Last week, Mexico named him on the bench for their friendly against Iraq.
He was not fit to play at the time and was not going to go out on the field. But the move angered Wolves, who were in action against Leeds United in the Carabao Cup at the same time.
Last night, Tata named Martino Jimenez to his bench, but this time gave him minutes.
And he gave him more minutes than most expected.
Jimenez came on at halftime and played the entire second half.
The star was clearly not match trained at all. But seemed to move pretty freely in terms of his injury. Goal stated that “the attacker’s 45 minutes of work were not sharp”.
And ESPN’s David Faitelson tweeted that he was “not in rhythm”
After the game, Martino said: “I want to highlight that Raúl Jiménez played for 45 minutes.
“Today’s changes were predetermined. They had nothing to do with what happened in the match. We wanted to see some players with minutes, and I am happy with what has happened in the last 15 days.”
Recent Raul Jimenez developments have irked more Wolves fans, as the star gets 45 minutes against Sweden
Jimenez was expected to appear last night, Martino previously said he would “probably” get minutes in the game.
But few really expected him to play the entire second half, and that hasn’t gone down well at all with many Wolves fans on social media.
It is understandable why there is frustration.
He doesn’t play for Wolves for months and then as soon as club football stops, he’s in this game with Sweden.
A five or 10-minute cameo might have gone down better with most Wolves fans.
But there are many who struggle with seeing him play a full half.
It could just be a complete coincidence. But the lack of communication about the situation has given it a bad look and it’s definitely a bit of a mess.